Mirror of an Epitath
by Child of Best Lemon Writer
Summary: Haseo didn't think this would be the result of him giving Atoli the Promise Card. But who could say he was in the wrong for it? It wasn't his fault that the new flower throwing feature at the Hy Brasail came out in the way it did. Especially with half the girls who caught it choosing him as their husband. But why exactly did they have to visit him in real life?


Ryou Misaki looked through his head gear as he looked at the post cards he had, still in the game "The World R:2".

He'd recently finished the Forest of Pain mission for the second time, and after having a second meeting with his long lost internet friend, Ovan, he'd received an email that said that he was to "promise" something to someone, the email coming from a girl named Aura.

At almost the exact same time, another email came in and said that he now could invite a close friend to the Hy Brasail, an event in the game to nominate Emperors of one of the three palaces of the tournament system the game had.

Ryou, or Haseo as he was known as in "The World", had set the record of going through all three tournaments while winning every last match, even when it seemed very clear that he was going to lose.

He didn't really fight in the tournaments for the sake of winning though - he'd had his ulterior motives to begin with.

See, he was part of an in-game group labeled "G.U.", which was centered around fighting against anomalies in the game system that said group had called "AIDA".

This anomaly was responsible for actually killing players PCs while in-game, and as a result, turning them into what G.U. called the "Lost Ones", mainly due to the fact that whenever a Lost One was made, the real player behind that PC would instantly fall into a comatose.

But as only a limited select few could actually do the job of G.U., which was to try exterminating said anomaly for obvious reasons, Haseo had been pulled into it because he unknowingly was in fact one of those select few, dubbed "Epitath Users".

Epitath Users were the only ones capable of beating AIDA as they each held powers of the 8 Epitaths, or Avatars.

When the Emperor of the lowest level tournament, the Demon Palace tournament, a man named Endrance, turned out to be an Epitath User who used his power to cheat in matches, Haseo and his fellow Epitath Users were sent to try to defeat him, as he had been infected with AIDA.

Though he didn't have the help of his partners, Haseo still managed to defeat Endrance in a fight that had their two Avatars battling each other, curing him of the AIDA inside of him.

Haseo came back for the second tournament because the Emperor of that palace, the Holy Palace, got infected with AIDA too.

As he had no other choice in the matter, since that Emperor had an AIDA particle that had robbed his friend, a girl named Atoli's Epitath from her (after he learned that she herself was an Epitath User, though unawakened, to his great surprise), and this having very many unwanted effects on her body in the real world, especially when she couldn't even use one of her arms anymore.

As though that wasn't bad enough, when the makers of "The World" found that G.U. was making little progress in their work, they replaced the leader of G.U., Yata, for an AIDA-infected maniac who seemed to have an extremely severe grudge against Haseo.

When said maniac, Sakaki, forced him to enter the Sage Palace tournament, Haseo very quickly found that he was getting a steadily worsening reputation amongst the players of the tournament, all because the new announcer just wanted to make the process that hard for him (who also - surprise - was in fact Sakaki as well).

After beating the Emperor of that tournament, and also curing Sakaki of his AIDA in the process, Haseo soon saw that Ovan, who was yet another Epitath User, had actually started and caused all the other crap he went through for the past several months, it including the girl he liked becoming a Lost One despite her close friendship with Ovan, leading him in a perpetual quest for power for half a year, Ovan somehow getting Haseo to believe the culprit was someone else who, with a single attack, made all of his power just simply vanish before he could do anything of it, and making him go through a cluster of other things that made for a very unpleasant half of a year that wasn't very nice to look back on.

Anyways, as Ovan used his Avatar's powers to bring an end to all the AIDA particles, it only seemed to give birth to a much worse threat, which Yata had called Cubia.

Cubia was, if put bluntly, just a very large AI that was hell bent on destroying the entire world through the power of the servers of "The World".

Had the Epitath Users, as well as all the other players of "The World", not stepped in, then Haseo was very sure that he'd most likely would be dead.

Along with everyone else in the real world.

And now with the whole of the conflict gone, G.U. was disbanded, and Haseo returned to his regular life as a player (though why the makers of the game would permit technology of such dangerous power to keep running was a question Haseo never thought to ask until afterwards).

Until that email came in.

The email itself said he could give someone a card to invite them to the Hy Brasail.

But as he looked at card, it labeled with the word "Promise" on it, he looked at the screen to the right, it showing the image of a small, pig-like version of his PC Haseo with another pig like version of a bride, them holding hands with a heart over their heads, the words "Together Forever" being above that heart.

The invitation was very clearly a mark of proposal in marriage.

He looked at it for a long time, then he selected it, one girl coming to mind as he thought of the last time he saw her in "The World".

However, unlike how he typically went about sending out cards to his internet friends, Haseo found himself moving the cursor much more slowly than he typically did.

Even as the cursor went over the girl's name, Haseo still found himself hesitating.

No one could really blame him though.

He was usually the type of person to judge most situations when they were in his control and act based on said judgements.

And this was of no exception.

He pulled the head piece off, staring at the screen now as he looked at it, arms crossed as he leaned them against his desk.

Was she really the best choice...?

He thought about it, knowing that this type of thing wasn't something he could take back.

And even if he sent it, there was no garuntee that she'd accept him...

He pulled the head set back over his eyes, seeing that the cursor was still over her name.

**Atoli**

Haseo half lidded his eyes, then sighed, pushing the "X" button on his controller.

The game responded with a sign.

_Are you sure you want to send this post card?_

He hesitated again at that moment.

Last chance...

He pushed the "X" button again, and as the post card was sent, Haseo felt that he was suddenly somewhat nervous about the outcome of this.

But he put up a tough front.

He already was warned to begin with before actually sending it, so he couldn't really be nervous at all.

He just had to wait for her-

His gaze, glazed slightly as his mind was somewhat elsewhere, snapped back down slightly as a sound came into his ears, along with a sign and a message, it having a symbol of an envelope on it.

_You have 1 new email._

That was pretty fast...

He moved towards his mail inbox, seeing that the email was from Atoli.

He opened the email, reading what was inside.

As he did this, he could imagine the girl's voice speaking to him with the text.

_Thank you for the greeting card, Haseo.  
The event on the Isle of Kings, Hy Brasail?_

_...to tell you the truth, it makes me nervous.  
I'm not even sure how to react..._

_I'll be waiting for you in front of the Chaos Gate in Mac Anu._

_Well then, until we meet._

Haseo looked down slightly, swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

There was really no other way to look at what the card implied...

Obviously, it was the equivalent of a love confession via a letter, even though he wished he could make it sound less cliché.

He'd already made the decision however...

But if he was going to "promise" her anything...

He needed to go see her...

He sighed softly, then started the process of logging into "The World", it being like second nature to him at that point.

Haseo's PC appeared as the blue circles came around him, him entering Mac Anu.

Haseo's red eyes looked up, quickly spotting the white and green clad blonde haired girl in front of him.

She was facing away from him then.

Haseo stared at the back of her head for a moment, then started walking up to her, "Atoli..."

The girl turned at her name, yet soon after that, a silence fell between them both.

Before finally, Atoli broke it, "Haseo... you really came..." She stared at him in surprise for a moment, then looked down, body language reflecting her discomfort.

"What's wrong?" Haseo asked her, putting hand on his hip.

She was visibly nervous.

He could tell that much just from looking at her.

Her voice didn't hide her hesitation at all, "Well... I always seem to make you mad, so..." She glanced slightly away, smiling lightly despite the redness invading her PC's cheeks, "So I was really happy when I got your card, but..." Her smile dropped, and her nervous expression easily became ten times worse, "I-I was scared that you'd hate me again, so I'm really nervous... sorry..."

Haseo felt himself smile lightly, lifting a hand to his head, then walking past her, "Come on." He said simply.

"Huh?" Atoli turned to him, eyes widened somewhat.

"...Just... shut up and come with me." Haseo said, walking to the doors leading outside the building they were in, pushing the doors open, light flooding in the slightly dim room.

Atoli stared at him as he looked back at her, red eyes slightly softer than usual as he smiled at her, her bringing a fist up to her chest, looking down slightly.

"...Alright." She nodded, smiling despite his rudeness, walking past him as he held the door open for him.

The wedding event was pretty brief in Haseo's opinion, but he didn't mind that.

It was the usual things with the prayers and the "I do"s, etc.

There were even people who were allowed to take pictures of everything happening.

It was a happy time, and Haseo knew that.

However, it was when the final event of the Wedding Hy Brasail happened that things went down to hell for him.

All of his friends had been invited to the wedding, both males and females alike, and Haseo conversed with them all, all saying words of congratulations.

He couldn't help noticing that some of the ways the females attending the wedding said their congrats that they didn't look or sound the same way their words would have people assume.

Take Alkaid for example, she had said in a rather soft voice in comparison to her usual "tough guy" tone, "I'm really happy for you... Haseo... I... really am..."

The fact that she didn't seem to be willing to face him made him eventually leave her alone.

He had been talking to Kuhn when the tournament announcer's voice boomed in his ears, "Now, in celebration for our first all around tournament victory, we will have a flower throwing ceremony with the bride!"

Anyone who knew about weddings would know what he'd been talking about.

He meant the tradition done in some weddings where the bride would look away from the crowd of other women and throw her flowers behind her and into them, the first one catching it symbolizing that that person was also married.

Haseo didn't mind the ceremony, leaning against the railing as he stood next to Atoli, her being poised to throw it.

Apparently, Atoli had to hold down a certain button and then released it for her throw, her using her analog sticks to aim at a crowd she couldn't even see.

If no one caught it, then the ceremony would be over, simple as that.

So he felt no real worry about it as he watched Atoli.

Yet in the real world, Atoli had been trying to aim it right, doing her best, and just as she held down the button, she suddenly heard her mother calling her name.

It was probably that that had caused it all to happen the way it did, she would reflect a long time after that.

She was momentarily distracted, and as her analog stick jerked away, she accidentally threw it all the way towards the ship reserved for people who wanted to leave the Hy Brasail.

Right into the back of an unexpecting Alkaid's head.

She didn't really want to take any part in the flower throwing ceremony, so that was why she had went to the boat to begin with, to avoid any chance of getting the flowers.

She had been turning away and looking at the artificial sunset when it had hit her in the back of the head.

The girl herself would stumble forward in surprise, before grabbing the bouquet and turning to see where it had come from.

Yet to her surprise, as she held it, her usual attire suddenly lit up, quickly replaced by a bride's dress.

The announcer yelled at her enthusiastically, "Alright! Now, Ms. Alkaid, you may now choose anyone you wish to be your husband in "The World", and they will immediately marry you!"

Alkaid blinked at that, and she yelled back, "You said I could choose _anyone_?"

"Absolutely anyone you want!" He yelled back, voice dramatic as it always was.

Alkaid went slightly red in the face at that, and she looked over at him, seeing said person watching the scene unfold with crossed arms, red eyes wide with what could've been amusement or surprise.

She was silent for a long time then, looking down, all eyes staring at her.

"If you want to, you can decline the offer if you like." Were the words of the announcer.

Alkaid looked up after a minute of continued silence, "If I can choose anyone I want... then... I choose Haseo."

The redness of her cheeks only intensified when there were murmurs of surprise at this.

But yet...

"That's acceptable!" The announcer said to everyone's surprise.

At this, many people looked at him, wondering if he was joking or not.

He was not.

Alkaid was suddenly teleported to Atoli's side, and as the two looked at each other, there was an atmosphere of stunned silence between them.

But before either one could say anything, the announcer gave Alkaid the instruction to do the same as Atoli had, throwing the flower bonquet into the crowd.

She did do it, and unlike Atoli, it was a more normal throw in comparison to hers.

This time, it landed in the hands of a brown haired girl who looked to be part animal, her PC resembling a cat.

And when the question of who Tabby wanted to be her husband came, she said it quickly, "Haseo~!"

Atoli stared at this, blue lines seeming to go on her face at this development.

Soon equipped with her own wedding dress, Tabby threw it into the crowd.

This time, it landed in the hands of a woman who had pink hair in large twin pig tails, wearing glasses as well.

She seemed surprised at her actually catching it, mainly due to the fact that she was nowhere near the actual crowd, closer to the docks more than anything.

But when it turned out that Yata himself wasn't present in the game during the one time he was actually needed there most (well, not really, considering the whole AIDA incident), and as she didn't realize that she could decline, since she wasn't really paying attention to the event, she chose her second choice of a husband, "Then, I suppose I'll choose... Haseo."

Atoli could only watch as the woman herself also came up beside the other four people still up there, her suddenly feeling as though she had fallen into a void world that she herself created.

As Pi threw her bonquet, another girl caught it, this time it being someone who didn't choose Haseo.

In fact, Atoli didn't even know who she was.

However, when the next bonquet got thrown...

Atoli stared with wide eyes as she looked at her, the person's PC an exact replica of hers with the exception of the colors.

Shino had chosen Haseo as well...

As Shino herself threw the bouquet, this time it fell into the hands of a little girl, even though Atoli could see that an Avatar enabled her to fly up into the air.

It took her little time to realize who it was when she saw that said Avatar was Gorre.

And when the girl screamed out who she wanted to marry, it came to no surprise to her.

"I want to marry my Master En!" Saku screamed at the top of her lungs.

By "Master En", Saku had meant Endrance.

The man looked mildly surprised as he appeared in front of everyone present, blue eyes staring down at the girl as she happily wrapped her arm around his.

"Saku..." He said, eyes for once not on Haseo.

He seemed to be severely infatuated with him, but Haseo, if he were to ever put it bluntly, wasn't on "that side of the fence".

Granted, neither was Endrance really.

He was probably just feeling a bit more lonely than was healthy for a person.

And Haseo, unlike Endrance's current bride, had been the first person to even attempt to try to give him some form of comfort.

In fact, Saku had actually allowed him to wallow in his misery despite her feelings toward him (this probably would sound more weird and obsessive rather than a bit cruel unless one actually knew what Endrance had done after his AIDA got destroyed, that being him somehow encasing his PC in a giant block of what looked like ice).

Due to this, Endrance only looked down at the girl in slight surprise, not very sure what to do then.

But he accepted it without resisting after Haseo nodded towards him, smiling encouragingly.

Endrance saw this, and he smiled back, nodding in return.

And then the event went on, another girl that Atoli recognized as a PKer from the Sage Palace tournament marrying a guy named IYOTEN.

Haseo would only stare at the duo as this happened.

It was only then that the announcer said that the flower throwing event was over, as it had been done 7 times exactly.

When someone questioned why it ended there, the announcer said that the game creators were attempting to reference the Bible, as 7 was the number that was most noticably and frequently used in it.

Haseo didn't exactly expect CC Corp. to actually bring something like the Bible into it, but he didn't comment on it.

He was simply looking around at his now internet wives, him still trying to let the fact that he now had 5 wives sink in.

The wives themselves also seemed to be taking their time to let everything sink in.

He brought a hand to his head, rubbing his head, silent as they looked amongst themselves.

"...I guess things are pretty clear to everyone now..." Atoli said, adopting her awkward body language again.

Haseo was silent.

"...sorry about that Haseo..." Alkaid said, looking away.

"It wasn't your fault, don't apologize..." Haseo said finally, voice much more flat than usual.

"But..." Alkaid started, only for the announcer to cut her off.

"And now, for this one time special, CC Corp will be funding a one week trip where all of our married folks will spend time together!"

"..." Haseo looked at the announcer, him standing next to him, "Where will we be going exactly?

"All the brides will pay their new husbands homes a visit!" He said, and Haseo continued to stare for a very long time.

"You're joking, aren't you?"

The announcer shook his head.

"Is there any way for us to avoid that happening?"

"No, unless you want me to lose my job." He responded, and Haseo could tell from the sudden flicker of fear in his eyes that he was in fact being very serious.

He brought a hand to his face, sighing softly.

"Could you at least tell me who was sponsoring this?"

"That man over there and a few others." He pointed down the steps, and as Haseo followed his finger, eyes settling on a group of people that were clapping for them.

He didn't recognize any of them, with the exception of the one wearing a giant suit of golden armor.

"...Piros the 3rd is sponsoring this?" Haseo stared at the man, his red visor covering his face but reflecting dramatically in the sunset.

"Yes. Now, Mister Haseo, expect that your wives will be visiting your home in the next three days."

"Is there really no way out of this?" Haseo asked, him looking somewhat angry at this development.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Not without you losing your job, you mean?"

"Yes..."

Haseo sighed again, "Alright, I don't put someone out of work for something like this..."

Even though he really didn't want to go along with this, he didn't want to put someone out of a job.

If he could help save the entire world and come back out in one piece, surely a week with them wouldn't be too bad of an experience.

Right?

Arms wrapped around his tightly next second, and after being yanked slightly, Haseo faced Tabby, "Oh come on Haseo, it could be pretty fun!"

"That's easy for you to say." Haseo looked at her, with a considerable look of disdain on his face.

Tabby leaned in close to him, smiling, "It'll be alright, I'm sure."

Her PC started leaning much closer to his, as though about to kiss him.

Yet at the last second, another pair of arms wrapped tightly around his, and when he was yanked for a second time, he looked to see Atoli holding him.

"Stop it, Haseo probably didn't want this because circumstances aren't the best they can be," she looked at him, "Right Haseo?"

"It's not that..." Haseo said, surprised by her sudden boldness, "It's just... I have to go to work in the middle of the week so..."

"So I was right! I bet you DO work as a clerk after all!" Atoli said, leaning in closer to him.

Haseo flushed slightly at her words, yet Tabby yanked him back to her, "Really? Is that true Haseo?" She asked.

Haseo didn't respond, and at the questions that were thrown at him from either side, he sighed to himself.

This didn't look like it was going to end very well...

* * *

A/N: Sorry if the characters seemed OOC to you, or if the way the beginning was written out seemed a bit confusing.

I'm coming out of my own comfort zone, as this story was meant to feature life in "The World" and I.R.L. ("In Real Life"). But as that could be a bit confusing to transition into, this was what it came out as.

I just felt a bit of inspiration to write this story out after reading my friend's story, "The Terror of Death against the Game of Death".

I'll probably put lemons in here later on, might not. I didn't exactly plan on lemons being put in here anyways. The main reason why I labeled this as "M" was because I wanted to avoid the chance of children reading my other stories as possible.

If you know what lemo


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